Pierre Probst (December 6, 1913 - April 12, 2007) was a French children's book writer and illustrator. He was known for his creation of the ''Caroline'' character, a heroine for children books. Probst was born in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

, then part of Germany, to a family that manufactured printed fabrics. Deciding at a young age to become an artist, he studied at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

. He moved to

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in the 1930s and did many jobs related to drawing, painting and photo-editing. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the French Army. Captured by Germans, Probst told them he wished to return to civilian life in Mulhouse. Once released, he escaped and returned to Lyon and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He worked for ''Hachette'' in Paris, first drawing animal stories for children, such as those featuring Chippy the cocker-spaniel. In 1953, he created ''Caroline'', based on his tomboyish daughter Simone. He died in

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ...

in 2007, aged 93.

''Caroline''

Since the creation of the series in 1953, 43 albums of ''Caroline'' were created and 38 million copies of those albums were sold.'Caroline' is about seven years old, and has blonde hair with pigtails. She lives by herself among a band of friends - the dogs Bobby and Rusty, the cats Puff and Inky, the bear Bruno, a lion and a panther.

External links

A Web site about Caroline

References

French children's book illustrators Artists from Mulhouse French children's writers 1913 births 2007 deaths Enid Blyton illustrators {{cartoonist-stub